I hadn't really thought about this before, but Kaep's success may truly increase Smith's trade value to the high end of a low 2nd or 3rd rounder. It makes it look much less like our staff had no faith in Alex, and that this move was (rightly) because we felt we had something special in Kaep. Whatever your personal feelings about him, facts are facts; It doesn't matter to teams what his past is beyond the last year or two. Teams will know they are trading for a QB who while not Elite or even top 10, did manage to win a playoff game against a high powered Saints team last year and was actually playing quite well this season for the most part. Fans do not determine a players trade value, so regardless of how other teams fans feel about him there will be a team with a solid defense and the ability to run the football (Jets for example, or maybe Jacksonville) who would be a good fit for him. Especially with how weak the top of this draft is for QB's, a QB needy team would probably be willing to take him for a 2nd or 3rd, and draft a later round QB to try and develop for the future. Alex is a better option for a late 2nd rounder than any QB that will be available in the draft at that point this year. I am thrilled with how Kaep is playing, but let's not pretend we weren't getting pretty consistently solid play from Alex in his last 30 games on this team. He has proven recently he is at least a viable starting option, and in the face of this difficult situation has proven he is a team first guy who will be good for a locker room. A team like the Jets that has a coach that needs to win now to keep his job will take the best QB option available to him for this season, even if he has to pay a bit extra (in trade value) for him.

A 2nd or 3rd is too high IMO. Teams will look at his past. It took a solid coach to manage him into an efficient QB. That's why he isn't worth the value of a 2nd or 3rd. I'll take that but won't be expecting it. The other teams might look at his past to see that he struggles when he gets put into a new system. They look at his past.

I'm sure every team is trying to hire solid coaches anyways. If they can't get anything out of Alex, maybe they should try get a real coach.

I also like the idea of Alex Smith to Cleveland, but I won't lie, I am hoping the Jets find a way to fit him into our salary cap. We'd have to restructure a few deals, but if the Jets want any chance of winning in 2013 then I think we could really use him.

We are also running a West Coast Offense. Marty Morhinwheg is now our OC and he obviously comes from the Holmgren-Reid tree, which came from Bill Walsh.

You might have to refresh my memory, doesn't Marty pass a lot? I recall Eagles fans complaining about not running enough. If so, then it might not be such a good fit. He's a solid WCO QB though.

That's a fair point. People did criticize MM for passing a lot, though I'm not sure if that was his influence or Reid's. Could have been both.

The Jets could restructure Brick, Nick, and Harris pretty easily to get Smith. It's not really the contract I'm super worried about. I'm just worried about how he fits in the scheme if the Jets were to go after him. If we had brought in Norv Turner, I'd be praying for Smith.

John232Joined: 05 Jan 2006Posts: 11678Location: A place where everybody is from somewhere else.

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:26 am Post subject:

Spiel612 wrote:

SoCalNiner wrote:

Spiel612 wrote:

I also like the idea of Alex Smith to Cleveland, but I won't lie, I am hoping the Jets find a way to fit him into our salary cap. We'd have to restructure a few deals, but if the Jets want any chance of winning in 2013 then I think we could really use him.

We are also running a West Coast Offense. Marty Morhinwheg is now our OC and he obviously comes from the Holmgren-Reid tree, which came from Bill Walsh.

You might have to refresh my memory, doesn't Marty pass a lot? I recall Eagles fans complaining about not running enough. If so, then it might not be such a good fit. He's a solid WCO QB though.

That's a fair point. People did criticize MM for passing a lot, though I'm not sure if that was his influence or Reid's. Could have been both.

The Jets could restructure Brick, Nick, and Harris pretty easily to get Smith. It's not really the contract I'm super worried about. I'm just worried about how he fits in the scheme if the Jets were to go after him. If we had brought in Norv Turner, I'd be praying for Smith.

I honestly don't know if Smith would want to go there just from a media perspective. I could see him going to a young, up and coming team that already has tools in place. Cleveland isn't far off from having a good O-line and they have the makings of a great RB. Not to mention he did pretty good under Norv considering the circumstances that year.

I would of said Philly but I doubt that now with Chip.

I could also see Minnesota being a landing spot. AP, Harvin(who he could be great with) and potential great at LT._________________
xsaMainevent on the sig

Even though I wanted to get another QB here instead of Alex the move was a head scratcher. I mean Alex wasn't lighting the world on fire or anything but we were 6-2 with him. Now the move was genius. I'm glad Jim had the balls to keep Kaep knowing that he was the superior QB on the roster. We're going to the Super Bowl!!!_________________
Thanks to Uncle Buck on the sig!
2011 & 2012 NFC West Champs!!!
Xbox: Steadypimpin49

kinda funny. what would of happened if the bengals grabbed kaep instead of dalton?

That's awesome. Jim knew that Colin would be the guy and was terrified someone else would grab him. We got lucky._________________
Thanks to Uncle Buck on the sig!
2011 & 2012 NFC West Champs!!!
Xbox: Steadypimpin49

49ers GM Trent Baalke indicated that coach Jim Harbaugh was the driving force behind San Francisco's decision to trade up to draft Colin Kaepernick in 2011.
Kaepernick was widely viewed as a boom-or-bust project coming out of Nevada's Pistol Spread. Harbaugh accurately isolated him from the offense and pinpointed his "rare" traits, per Baalke. "A lot of credit goes to Coach on this as far as the evaluation process," Baalke explained. "He saw a lot of things in Colin that are starting to come out and was always a big supporter once he saw the film." Having manipulated former No. 1 overall bust Alex Smith into an efficient passer and morphed Kaepernick into one of the NFL's most explosive playmakers, Harbaugh has emerged as the NFL's premier quarterbacks guru.

I never saw this move as a head scratcher, nor do I believe that Alex got disrespected in anyway by us sticking with Kaep.

Kaep tore it up versus the Bears and displayed a couple traits that happened to be exactly what we were all wishing Alex could display. I believe the pass that cemented Kaep getting another go at it was the TD pass to Crabtree, in that same Bears game, where he bought time, did not panic and throw it away or take the sack, but instead rolled back to his left and threw it against his body with touch to Crabtree in the endzone.

After that game you had to see if he could display consistency in that level of play. If he had failed against the Saints the following week, I believe Alex would of taken back the reigns. But the thing of it is, Kaep never slowed down and continued to excel in the area's where Alex would not.

As one of the biggest Alex fans on this forum for the past few years, I myself even believe that not only did Harbaugh make the correct move, but made the easy move._________________
^Thanks to NS922

I never saw this move as a head scratcher, nor do I believe that Alex got disrespected in anyway by us sticking with Kaep.

Kaep tore it up versus the Bears and displayed a couple traits that happened to be exactly what we were all wishing Alex could display. I believe the pass that cemented Kaep getting another go at it was the TD pass to Crabtree, in that same Bears game, where he bought time, did not panic and throw it away or take the sack, but instead rolled back to his left and threw it against his body with touch to Crabtree in the endzone.

After that game you had to see if he could display consistency in that level of play. If he had failed against the Saints the following week, I believe Alex would of taken back the reigns. But the thing of it is, Kaep never slowed down and continued to excel in the area's where Alex would not.

As one of the biggest Alex fans on this forum for the past few years, I myself even believe that not only did Harbaugh make the correct move, but made the easy move.

Ironically, Kap hasn't really done that many plays like that. He tried to do it once more, rolling to his left and throwing to the endzone, and it turned into an INT. I think the real determining factor in Kap's success is that he can be a terrific pocket passer. He doesn't have to buy time to be a good QB in the NFL, like Mike Vick had to. Vick couldn't pass from the pocket, so he extended plays until someone broke open. Kap is a real quarterback, who just happens to be able to run fast, if the D forgets about him.

We only have the outside perspective on "The Switch". But I've said it before, and I'll believe it for a while, I'm sure most people on the inside saw it coming. They could see Kap in practice, they knew his attitude, his personality. So while it was a controversy in the media and among fans, I doubt the switch was really questioned in the locker room. Some were disappointed (namely Staley), but I'm sure everybody knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Alex first and foremost, as evidenced by his initial desire to play through a concussion. If he hadn't already been looking over his shoulder, he might have stayed on the sideline instead of trying to tough it out. Once he was in the doctor's office, passing concussion tests, he must have known his job was in jeopardy._________________

I never saw this move as a head scratcher, nor do I believe that Alex got disrespected in anyway by us sticking with Kaep.

Kaep tore it up versus the Bears and displayed a couple traits that happened to be exactly what we were all wishing Alex could display. I believe the pass that cemented Kaep getting another go at it was the TD pass to Crabtree, in that same Bears game, where he bought time, did not panic and throw it away or take the sack, but instead rolled back to his left and threw it against his body with touch to Crabtree in the endzone.

After that game you had to see if he could display consistency in that level of play. If he had failed against the Saints the following week, I believe Alex would of taken back the reigns. But the thing of it is, Kaep never slowed down and continued to excel in the area's where Alex would not.

As one of the biggest Alex fans on this forum for the past few years, I myself even believe that not only did Harbaugh make the correct move, but made the easy move.

Ironically, Kap hasn't really done that many plays like that. He tried to do it once more, rolling to his left and throwing to the endzone, and it turned into an INT. I think the real determining factor in Kap's success is that he can be a terrific pocket passer. He doesn't have to buy time to be a good QB in the NFL, like Mike Vick had to. Vick couldn't pass from the pocket, so he extended plays until someone broke open. Kap is a real quarterback, who just happens to be able to run fast, if the D forgets about him.

We only have the outside perspective on "The Switch". But I've said it before, and I'll believe it for a while, I'm sure most people on the inside saw it coming. They could see Kap in practice, they knew his attitude, his personality. So while it was a controversy in the media and among fans, I doubt the switch was really questioned in the locker room. Some were disappointed (namely Staley), but I'm sure everybody knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Alex first and foremost, as evidenced by his initial desire to play through a concussion. If he hadn't already been looking over his shoulder, he might have stayed on the sideline instead of trying to tough it out. Once he was in the doctor's office, passing concussion tests, he must have known his job was in jeopardy.

Also I remember two big passes that he threw after buying time out to his left vs. Cardinals in week 17. One was a big pass to Crabtree, the other was about a 20 yard pass to Delanie who worked his way back to the ball. Kaep has bought a lot of time and made a lot of plays happen IMO. I also do agree that he is a very good Pocket Passer, but that does not mean that he doesn't also create passing plays with his feet.

As for the biggest thing that separates him from Alex......his arm. He has such a strong arm that I believe it gives him that confidence to make tight throws and give his WR a chance, a confidence that Alex has always seemed to be missing. This is why we have seen Crabtree's production take off. He has a QB that can get the ball on him so that he has more time and room to make people miss. And on top of that, he has also been given way more opportunities as what appears to be open to Kaep, could be seen as a WR that is blanketed in the eyes of Alex_________________
^Thanks to NS922